ObscureNameHere:cowgirl toffee: My man and I was at a shopping center near a Wal-Mart 2 days ago. There was a little "lump" in the parking lot. We drove over and lo and behold... it was a turtle. He goes over to pick it up and move it off of the pavement. The little turtle bit him... bad. My guy is from Canada... he never "experienced" a snapping turtle before.

Sorry that makes no sense. We have snapping turtles in Canada. I take it he has never been an "outdoorsy" type?

Oops. I should have put "he's from Vancouver and has limited experience with any, any sort of wildlife".

I was beginning to think this whole stealing scrap metal and selling it to the scrap yard for drug money was getting out of hand. I was going to get an FID card and do the whole 7 day waiting period thing to protect myself from these lowlifes. But now that turtles are being saved from captivity, I'm thinking I might try meth.

How farking old are you to get that reference? Laughing at myself thinking anything is obscure.

Damned comment\question cost me a fair numbers of beers a LONG time ago. One time a "ships coin?" thing was played on me, joke was that I was a "contractor" and played dumb, I can do that well. a natural talent. It still cost me when a smart person figured out things by looking at my ID when I walked into a place that he was security. Kept me in the "fishbowl" till he finished laughing. Bastard!

"There are many myths about alligator snapping turtles attacking, even killing, humans; none of which are true (Pritchard, 1989). However, their strong jaws and sharp beaks make them potentially dangerous if carelessly handled. Pritchard (1989) verified that persons have had their fingers severed away cleanly; additionally, he demonstrated that the jaws of M. temminckii are formidable enough to break completely through the handles of the "flimsier" variety of brooms sold in modern supermarkets."

That is for alligator snapping turtles, not common snapping turtles, but I think the point still stands. Keep fingers away from them.

Menestheus:foxtail: Sofa King Smart: cowgirl toffee: BLA BLA BLA...a 'snapper' is not something to be taken lightly... they'll take a finger off.

Citation please.With real proof.Didn't think so.

From USGS:

"There are many myths about alligator snapping turtles attacking, even killing, humans; none of which are true (Pritchard, 1989). However, their strong jaws and sharp beaks make them potentially dangerous if carelessly handled. Pritchard (1989) verified that persons have had their fingers severed away cleanly; additionally, he demonstrated that the jaws of M. temminckii are formidable enough to break completely through the handles of the "flimsier" variety of brooms sold in modern supermarkets."

That is for alligator snapping turtles, not common snapping turtles, but I think the point still stands. Keep fingers away from them.

The main difference is that alligator snapping turtles do tend to be spikier:

(And yes, there's a reason turtle hunters would need to know the difference--in KY, for example, you can legally fish or trap common snapping turtles but not alligator snapping turtles (the latter are a threatened species in KY). The former can actually make some tasty turtle soup; the second will get you a jail sentence :D. Both will probably get you the ire of a certain Ernie Brown, Jr.)

The main difference is that alligator snapping turtles do tend to be spikier:

www.chelydra.org

(And yes, there's a reason turtle hunters would need to know the difference--in KY, for example, you can legally fish or trap common snapping turtles but not alligator snapping turtles (the latter are a threatened species in KY). The former can actually make some tasty turtle soup; the second will get you a jail sentence :D. Both will probably get you the ire of a certain Ernie Brown, Jr.)

They're also farking FAST, which explains how people lose fingers and brooms in the first place. The whole slowness is basically a ruse to lull you into getting close.

I once saw a woman trying the herd a turtle from the sidewalk into her yard. Since that is not common in these parts I drove over to talk to her. It seems she we just returning from a walk around the block with it. I asked her "when did you start the walk? last week?"